LaMont Jordan is cool, cool to the point of somnambulism. So cool that the oft-dramatic mix of pageantry and intensity that is Sunday in the NFL barely gets his heart a-thumpin’.
“I try my best not to get excited about too much,” he says. “I get excited about game day; actually, I don’t get excited about game day until after warm-ups. After I get warmed up and I know this thing is going to happen … when there’s about 20 minutes left until we go out for the national anthem, that’s when I get pumped up.”
So ask Jordan about his first real chance to be a starting running back after four seasons in the NFL, or about the buzz that he’ll be a key cog in an offense that has the potential to set team and league scoring records, and it’s all he can do to stifle a yawn.
“Nothing is going to happen out there that’s new to me,” he says of his elevation in status. “The only thing new is my uniform, the coaches and my teammates. It’s still the NFL, it’s still football – nothing’s going to change. The only thing that’s changed is that I’m no longer a backup.”
But that’s precisely what has the maniacal hordes that worship the Silver and Black so excited. After a 2004 season in which Oakland’s leading rusher, Amos Zereoue, gained all of 425 yards, here comes Mr. Jordan, who totaled 479 last year in his role as a backup to league leader Curtis Martin.
For his career, Jordan has averaged just less than 5 yards a carry. If he can maintain that with an increased workload (he never has had more than 93 rushes in a season) and subsequent pounding (he appears smaller than his listed 5-feet-10, 230 pounds), the Raiders may have found the perfect counterpoint to defenses that are understandably nervous about the prospect of dealing with wide receivers Randy Moss and Jerry Porter.
Not that Jordan is interested in the possibilities of his new team.
“There’s a saying, ‘Talk is cheap and good whiskey costs money.’ I’m big on drinking that good whiskey,” Jordan said. “It’s not about the talk – it’s about what we do when we get out there on the field.
“If you talk about what you’re going to do, all you do is set yourself up for failure if you don’t do it. You’re setting yourself up for a lot of people to destroy you. If you keep your mouth shut and let your actions speak louder than your words, that’s what this thing is about.”
Jordan’s calm is one reason he endeared himself to the Raiders, who signed him in March. Although some argue Jordan was merely the best back available in a group that included no longer ready for prime time players such as Eddie George and former Bronco Garrison Hearst, Oakland coach Norv Turner says he can see Jordan’s star potential.
Asked if Jordan reminded him of anyone in particular, Turner – who has coached NFL all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith and Pro Bowl player Stephen Davis, now of the Carolina Panthers – chuckled softly.
“He reminds me of a number of backs that I’ve seen, because he’s good,” Turner said. “I’ve been around some great ones, and he’s a talented guy and he’s got a great feel.
“People underestimate that. They get caught up in size and strength and speed, and it’s a position where you have a knack and a feel for it, and he’s very natural in the way he runs.”
Another plus – one that may come in handy given the likely demands for the football by Oakland’s receivers – is Jordan probably isn’t going to join them in that pursuit. After being a backup for so long, if Jordan consistently comes close to 20 carries a game, he might look at it as a bonus. Whatever the total, Jordan says he’ll be happy.
“I’m not one of these guys who only cares about my stats; I’m never going to cry or complain about not getting the ball,” he said. “If teams are committed to shutting our run game down, and I have to pass-protect all game long, if we win, that’s all that matters to me.
“That’s the great thing about football – it is the ultimate team sport. I’m only as good as my linemen. A wide receiver has to have the ability to get open and catch the ball, but does the quarterback have the ability to get you the ball in the right situation? I’ve never been a guy to worry about things other than what I have to do. If I do what I have to do, and the other 10 guys on the field do what they have to do – hey, no problem.”
